The housing is used in particular with an optical plug connector which allows one or more optical waveguides to be coupled to an associated component such as, e.g., an optoelectronic converter or a further optical waveguide. The optical waveguide to be coupled is provided at its end with a ferrule, in most cases made of ceramics or metal, which is precisely received in the housing. The housing is then arranged in the plug housing, which may be inserted into an associated plug connector housing.
In the same way as with electrical plug connections, in the case of optical plug connections a multitude of connections may be established at the same time. To this end, a plurality of optical waveguides may be arranged in a row inside the plug housing, and a plurality of rows of optical waveguides may be arranged one on top of the other. An essential function of the housings accommodating the optical waveguide ferrules within the plug housing consists in precisely determining the distance of the optical waveguides from each other. Only when a precise distance of the optical waveguides or, to put it more precisely, of the end faces of the optical waveguides from each other is ensured, a low-loss optical coupling to the associated component is possible. Different applications involve the use of different grid dimensions here, that is, different distances of the end faces of the optical waveguides from each other. Accordingly, a large number of different housings were required.
The object of the invention consists in providing a housing which allows different grid dimensions to be attained at little expense.